Steam gauge



Aug. 7, 1928.

w H K HN 1,679,476 u STEAM GAUGE .Filed April 26, 1926 Qwuentoz PatentedAug. 7, 1928.

UNITED STATES WILFRED I may, or DETROIT, MICHIGAN,

H. KUHN, 015' DETROIT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGN'OR TO WRIGHT-AUSTIN COM- A-CORPORATION, OF MICHIGAN.

STEAM GAUGE.

Application filed April 26,

This invention relates to gauge or try cocks for steam boilers and thelike, and an object of the invention is to provide a construction andarrangement of weighted levers for operating such cocks, whereby, whensuch cocks are positioned near together upon a water column or otherpart of a boiler, these levers may be independently operated withoutinterfering, one with another. A further object is to provide foraccurate adjustment rotatively, of such levers upon the valve stems ofthe cocks to which they are attached and to provide for the readyrenewal of the valve seats of such cocks. It is also anobject to providecertain other new and useful features in the construction of such cocks,all as hereinafter more fully set forth.

\Vith the above and other ends in view, the invention consists in theseveral matters hereinafterset forth and more particularly pointed outin the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawingin which Figure 1 is a perspective view of a water column and gaugecocks applied thereto embodying the-invention; 4

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same illustrating therelativepositioning-and operation of thecocks;'and '7 Fig. 3 is an'enlargedlongitudinal section through a cock, detached. j In the installation ofgauge or try cocks, it is often necessary to placethese cockscomparatively close together in a vertical row and whenweighted'operating levers are 'applied to the outerends of their valvestems, the-o erati on ofthe levers is interfered with by ajacent levers.It is thereforehighly desirable that these levers be so arranged andconstructed that one will not interfere with another and also thatprovision be made 'for accurate rotative adjustment of these levers upontheir valve stems to provide for accurate relative positioning of thelevers.

It is also necessary, in'cocks of this character where the valve isclosed and held closed by a Weightedlever, that the valve should scataccurately, and therefore it is highly desirable that the seats forsuchvalves be made readily renewable. V

The inventionis; shown as appliedlo a 1 gauge cock of the usualconstruction comprising a hollow body 1 having a lateral dis- 1926.Serial No. 104,605.

charge nipple 2' and a longitudinal bore through its outer end whichbore is screw threaded to receive the screw-threaded portion of thevalve stem 3. This valve stem is formed with an axial bore atits innerend to receivea valve member 4 havingtapered ends to seat wlthin anopening in avalve' seat, which seat comprises a disk 5 having an axialopening therein, this valve, member being removable from its stemandreversible to provide for renewing the valve'when it becomes worn inuse. The disk 5 is'securely held in place'by providlng a seat thereforin the inner end portion of thehore of the I body which bore isscrew-threaded to re re ive the screw-threaded end of nipple 6 so thatbyscrewingthe nipple into thebody,

the edge portion of said disk is firmly clamped between the seattherefor in the body and the end of the nipple. The oppo site endportion 7 of the nipple is-screwthreaded to engage a, screw-threadedopeningprovided therefor in the water column 8 or other part to whichthecock is applied, 7 V

and said nip'ple, intermediate its ends is formed with a Wrench-hold asis alsothe adjacent end of the body 1 to facilitate the assembly anddis-assembly of the parts so 'that the disk5 may be quickly and easily'1 or out andthus open or close the valve. by

means of a lever 9 having a hub portion 10 which projects laterally fromthe lever toward the body and formed with a, circular recess or countersmk llat the opposite' or outer side of thc lever. fTh-is hub boredaxially to receive the outer end of the valve stem 3 which projectsthere through into saidcounter-sinkand is sc1'ew-. threaded to receivea, nut 12. 3 The stem 3 isformed with a flange 18 presenting a wide flatsurface toward the end of the hub 10 in which end surface of the hub isformed a shallow recess 14 around the bore for the stem, to receive africt on washer l5, preferably of fibre or other suitable material toseat-against the flange 13, said washer being 12 is turned up, saidwasher 15 will be firmly clamped between the hub IOand flange 13 tofrictionally hold the lever 9 against turning relative to the stem 3.

As the valve seat or valve member wears, or when either is renewed byreplacement or reversal, the angular position of the lever 9 when thevalve is to its seat, will beaffected, and when the several cocks are located close together, this change in angular position of a lever may besiillici'ent to bring the end of theleverinto contact with an adjacentlever and prevent the proper closing of the valves It is thereforehighly desirable to )rovide means whereby said lever may bequickly andaccurately adjusted relative to its stem, and the friction washerprovides for such accurate adjustment, as by simply loosening thenut 12,the lever may be rotated upon the stem to, bring said levers into theirproper relative positions and give the proper clearance between leverson adjacent cocks. H

Each lever 9- has a straight arm 16 extending laterally fromits hub inone direction for the attachment thereto of a chain 17 or other meansfor exerting a pull upon the arm toturn the valve stem and open thevalve, and extending laterally in an opposite direction from the hub isa weighted arm or weight 18 which, upon release of the chain, willturnthe stem in an opposite direction and close the valve, this weightexerting a constant force to hold the valve to its seat. This weight 18is preferably of crescent shape in side elevation so that when theseveral cocks arranged in a vertical row are positioned near together,the weight of the arm on therock next above, will not interfere with theswinging movement of the arm which is operated to open a cock, thecut-away side or depression lt) in the upper side of the weight,providing clearance for the semi-circular lower side 20 of the weightnext above. As ordinarily constructed, these weights are circular inside elevation to give a maximum of weight and a maximum of turning orgravity force, within a given space, and this space within which theweight may swing, is limited, due to the close spacing of the coeks andthe are through which the weights must swing to open or close the valve.By concaving the upper side ofeach weight, as at 19, clearance isprovided for the weight above and a maximum of turning force is applied.

It will be noted that in edge elevation of the lever, the weight isoffset laterally or toward the front side of said lever, and that anincreased offset from the perpendicular plane tothe 'stem at the pointof attachment of the lever to the stem is secured by the extension ofthe hub portion laterally and the recessingor eountersinking of said hubto receive the nut 12, and therefore interference to the swinging of oneweighted lever wardthe cocks, indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 3. \Viththis arrangement, the weights of adjacent levers will swing in differentplanes and one will not interfere with the other.

Obviously these levers andweights may be given other forms to preventinterference in swinging movement and to permit of such swinging withinthe limits set by the spacing of the cocks. Such changes as fall withinthe scope of the appended claims are contemplated and I do not thereforelimit myself to the particular construction shown.

Havin thus fully described my invention, what I c aim is 1. In a gaugecock, the combination with a body, a valve in said body and a valve stemfor operating the valve projecting from the body; of an operating leverhaving a hub portion projecting laterally from said lever and formedwith an opening to receive the projecting end of said stem and alsoformed with a counter-sink to receive a nut on said stem, and a weightmember at one side of said hub on said lever, said weight member beingoffset laterally of said lever in a direction opposite to theofl'setting of said huh. I

2. In a. gauge cock, the combination with a body, a valve in said bodyand a stem for the valve projecting from the body; of a lever having anopening to receive the projecting end of the stem, a flange on saidstem, a friction washer sleeved on said stem, and means on the end ofsaid stem. to force the lever toward said flange and frictionally clampsaid washer therebetween and adjustably secure said lever to said stem.

3. The combination of a series of gauge cocks arranged in a vertical rowand near together, each cock comprising a body, a detachable andreversible valve in said body, a detachable and reversible valve seatfor said valve, a stem for operating said valve projecting from saidbody, and an operating lever on the outer end of said stem, saidoperating lever having a hub portion mounted on said stem and a weightmember at one side of said huh and an arm at the opposite side of thehub, and means for frictionally securing said hub against rotationrelative to said stem to provide for adjustment of said levers on theseveral cocks, relative to each other when the scating of a valve uponits seat is changed by the renewal or reversal of its valve seat.

4. The combination with a gauge cock including a body, a valve in saidbody, and

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a stem projecting from the body for operating said valve; of anoperating lever mounted upon the projecting end of said stem, said leverincluding a Weight member at one end thereof, said member being ofcrescent-shape in side elevation to provide clearance at one sidethereof between said member and a like member of an adjacent cock. V

5. In agauge cook, the combination of a hollow body havingscrew-threaded bores in the ends thereof, a nipple having ascrewthreaded end portion to engage the bore in one end of the body, avalve seat comprising a disk having an axial opening therein, said bodybeing formed with an internal seat for said disk and said nipple beingadapted to engage at its inner end said disk and clamp said disk betweensaid end and seat, a detachable andireversible valve member in the bodyto engage Within the opening in the disk, a screw-threaded stemextending through the screw-threaded bore of the outer end of the bodyand provided With an axial bore at its inner end to receive the valvemember, an operating lever, means for frictionally and adjustablysecuring said lever to the outer end of said stem, and an off-set Weightmember on the lever at one side of said stem. v

V In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

WVILFRED H. KUHN.

